The client wanted their vehicles photographed using backdrops of notable buildings in Cardiff. In most cases this meant just parking the lorry in the optimum spot and taking the photograph.
The Wales Millennium Centre were happy enough for their building to be used. However, getting permission for the lorry to actually be in front of the building was going to be a rather long drawn out affair.
This is where digital compositing came in to its own.
First of all, the Millennium Centre was photographed at night when it looks quite spectacular.
One of the client's lorries was photographed, at dusk, at their depot some miles away. The background was taken out using Photoshop.
The image of the lorry was then superimposed on to the image of the Millennium Centre.
However, it looks like it's just 'stuck on' with no impression of depth.
To cure the 'stuck on' appearance, a 'drop shadow' was created below the lorry.
This created the realism.
There were many factors affecting this shot. The lighting, perspective and relative positions all played a part, and all had to be worked out beforehand.
